E&OE
29 April 2009
Interview, AM
Subjects: Sri Lanka; Afghanistan troop boost.
TONY EASTLEY: If more Australian forces are bound for Afghanistan, the Foreign Minister Stephen Smith isn't talking about it.
News Limited papers are reporting this morning that two-hundred extra troops will be sent to the fight against the Taliban.
The Foreign Minister Stephen Smith did tell AM that a government announcement was to be made in the very near future.
He's also addressed another major security issue - Sri Lanka - calling on the Government there to end its military action and to find a political solution to the crisis.
Stephen Smith is speaking here with Emma Griffiths.
STEPHEN SMITH: Well, we've got a terrible situation in Sri Lanka on anyone's assessment. Hopefully the combat or the military engagement is coming to an end in the very near future. We've got thousands of civilians who have been trapped in the line of fire and we have been urging both the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers to allow them to leave.
But we've now also got hundreds of thousands, potentially, of displaced Sri Lankans which is why today I am announcing an additional $4.5-million worth of humanitarian assistance to deal with these displaced people.
EMMA GRIFFITHS: You express some hope there that the fighting would soon stop and foreign ministers of the United Kingdom and France are heading over there to try and get the Government to bring in a truce. Would you be adding Australia's voice to that call for a truce?
STEPHEN SMITH: I have previously spoken to Foreign Minister Kouchner from France and when I was in Turkey for the Gallipoli commemoration services, I spoke at length to Foreign Minister Miliband and all of the points that Australia has been making in recent times which the United Kingdom shares, which the United Nations also shares; Foreign Ministers Miliband and Kouchner will be making.
We want to see a cessation of hostilities. We want to see civilians catered for in a humanitarian way. We continue to call upon the Tamil Tigers to lay down their arms, but we also urge the Sri Lankan Government to start, now, trying to find a political solution to this long-standing problem.
It is quite clear that the Sri Lankan Government are effectively winning or have won the military exercise. What we now need is a political solution.
EMMA GRIFFITHS: Minister, on another issue - you were in the United States about a fortnight ago for discussions about Afghanistan and Australia's contribution to that effort. There are reports today that the Government will be sending 200 more troops to Afghanistan. Is that correct?
STEPHEN SMITH: I've seen that speculation as I've seen speculation in the past and I've made it clear that I don't give a running commentary or comment on any of that speculation.
When I returned from the United States a couple of weeks ago, I indicated publicly that I thought the Government would be in a position to make a decision and make an announcement about this matter in a matter of weeks.
I think in the very near future, the Government will be able to make an announcement about these matters.
EMMA GRIFFITHS: Can you tell us exactly when an announcement will be made? Will it be today?
STEPHEN SMITH: I think in the near future. I am not proposing to give a timetable for that. I said a couple of weeks ago I expected the Government to be able to make a decision and an announcement in a couple of weeks.
I expect the decision will be made in the very near future and I have also made it clear as has my colleague, the Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, we are clearly looking at what we might be able to do in terms of additional assistance for the Afghanistan election in August of this year.
What we might be able to do in terms of additional civilian capacity building or nation building and also what, if anything, we might be able to do so far as additional military contribution is concerned.
But particularly in the areas of training, training the Afghan national army and the Afghan police to do the job which an international UN-sponsored force is currently doing for them.
EMMA GRIFFITHS: So you can't confirm how many more troops will be going, but it is correct to assume that there will be more troops heading that way?
STEPHEN SMITH: I am not confirming anything of that nature. I am not confirming any of the speculation. I am simply saying that the Government, I believe the Government is in a position to make an announcement about these matters in the very near future.
We have made it clear we are looking at three areas of important potential contribution: what, if anything, we might be able to do to assist with the election in Afghanistan in August this year; what we might be able to do in terms of additional civilian capacity; what we might be able to do in terms of additional training for the Afghan army and police force; and what, if anything, we can do by way of additional military or combat contribution.
TONY EASTLEY: The Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, speaking there with Emma Griffiths.
[Ends]
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